Tiqets and boat transfers in Venice

From museum ticketing to transfer seller

Tiqets started in Amsterdam as an online ticket shop for museums and attractions. The company is Tiqets International B.V. The idea that it only sells admissions no longer holds: on its Venice page, the transfers section listed 27 products, alongside museums, lagoon cruises and passes.

There’s news on ownership. Expedia Group announced an agreement to buy Tiqets, without disclosing the price. According to the trade press the deal has since closed, but we found no official completion announcement from Expedia or Tiqets, and Tiqets’ “about us” page didn’t yet mention it. For travellers from the United States, payments are already collected by an Expedia Group company.

Who runs the boats you buy on Tiqets

Here Tiqets does something the other platforms don’t. On the transfer listing it shows the supplier’s company name and registered address. For the shared taxi from the airport the supplier is Bucintoro Viaggi S.r.l., based in San Marco. It’s the same supplier that sells the shared taxi on GetYourGuide and Viator.

Bucintoro belongs to the group that also runs the scheduled Alilaguna waterbus. Indeed, the Tiqets Alilaguna ticket goes through the same supplier. You show the voucher on your smartphone to collect the paper ticket: according to the listing, at the Alilaguna desk in the airport arrivals hall or at the ticket office by the boat dock. The corporate set-up is explained in our Bucintoro Viaggi review.

Two practical details from the listings. The shared taxi into the centre gives a maximum of 14 passengers per boat, the one to the airport a maximum of 8. The shared taxi from the station departs from the Alilaguna desk outside Santa Lucia. The exact meeting point is shown on your voucher, though: check it there.

What it costs on Tiqets, compared with other channels

Prices from our data, at the time of checking. For direct booking we use the consortia’s online prices; the city fare is the one set by the City of Venice.

Three things stand out. On the shared taxi and Alilaguna, Tiqets costs the same as GetYourGuide. On private taxis it’s cheaper: €35 less from the airport, for a product from the same supplier with the same 6-person limit, and almost half from the station. It’s still above the consortia’s online prices, though, and well above the city fare. On the vaporetto, finally, the starting price is higher than the official single ride. The listing offers options from 75 minutes to 7 days but doesn’t say which one the starting price refers to: check the price of the option you need before paying.

The €66 return works out at €33 per leg, against €39 for a single. The saving has a catch, though: the ticket is non-refundable. It only makes sense if your travel dates are certain.

One oddity worth flagging. Tiqets gives a 30-minute duration for the shared taxi from the airport. GetYourGuide, for the same supplier, says 50–100 minutes. The Tiqets figure seems to refer to the crossing alone. With several hotel stops, allow for the longer time. We cover this on the shared water taxi page.

For the €180 private taxi, the listing gives a maximum of 6 people and Bucintoro Viaggi as the supplier, the same as the €215 private taxi on GetYourGuide; from the airport you start at desk 71 in arrivals. What’s missing is the number of bags included: the listing only mentions paid extra luggage “if applicable”, so ask the supplier if you’re travelling heavy. For four people it’s €45 each; for six it drops to €30 each, less than the shared taxi.

“Instant” ticket: what it really means

After purchase you get two emails: the payment confirmation and then the tickets. According to the Tiqets help centre, 98% of tickets arrive within 15 minutes and the rest within half an hour. There’s also a backup SMS. The terms of use, however, give the supplier a 48-hour window; if the ticket hasn’t arrived by then, you get the full amount back. If you book the day before arrival, bear that in mind.

Tickets stay in the app wallet and open without a connection, which is handy at the pier. Tiqets doesn’t work with a conventional account, though: the email address used for the order can’t be changed. Type it correctly.

Cancellation: the line on each ticket is what counts

On this point Tiqets is the least straightforward platform. Its terms say you can only cancel if the product listing allows it. The help centre, on the other hand, presents free cancellation as an option you choose at purchase, valid until 23:59 the day before. And the Venetian transfer listings use different wordings.

Other rules apply across the board: deadlines follow Venice local time, you can’t cancel only part of an order, and the refund goes back to the card used, in 5–10 working days. Here too the EU 14-day right of withdrawal doesn’t apply to services with a fixed date. How to book safely is explained on our how to book page.

Booking fees, commissions and reviews

Unlike GetYourGuide, Tiqets states that it charges a booking fee on some orders. It covers payment costs and charges imposed by suppliers, and according to Tiqets it’s avoided for most venues. Check the total on the last screen before paying. Prices are dynamic, and Tiqets says so openly: they change with the season, day and time. The commission taken from suppliers isn’t published.

Only buyers can review. The rating is a simple average, with no extra weight for recent reviews. External reviews may also appear on the listing, with their source shown. As on GetYourGuide, reviews that only discuss the purchase process can be deleted.

The numbers need reading product by product. The shared taxi from the airport has 4.3 from more than a thousand reviews: a solid sample. The station transfers, by contrast, have 3.3 from 15 and 3.2 from 18 reviews: few votes, and lukewarm ones. The private taxi from the station has 4.3, but from just 6 reviews. For the station, also compare the options on the Santa Lucia station page.

As for overall reputation, Tiqets had a Trustpilot average of 4.3 from tens of thousands of reviews, with a company-managed profile. In case PS12603 over Colosseum tickets, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) also fined Tiqets, about €4.3 million, for hoarding tickets using automated systems. The Lazio Regional Administrative Court (TAR del Lazio) rejected its appeal.

Customer service: chat and WhatsApp, no phone

Tiqets doesn’t publish a customer-service phone number. You contact it by chat, WhatsApp or email; in English, support answers 24 hours a day, in other languages that isn’t guaranteed. If the problem arises at the pier, the quickest route is the supplier, whose details are on the product listing.

Who we recommend Tiqets to, and for what

For a private taxi from the airport, a direct quote is still the cheapest route: see the Consorzio Motoscafi and Venezia Taxi. To compare with our other partner, read the GetYourGuide review. For the platform we have no agreement with, see the Viator review. The full list is on the operators and platforms page.